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Souls and Higher Undead
Overview A soul is the incorporeal manifestation of one’s consciousness, will, personality, and other defining traits. A soul is incredibly malleable while still within its original physical host, capable of developing at the same pace of the host’s mind, and consequently, degrading at the same pace should a traumatic injury, old age, or mental illnesses occur. Despite this malleability, the soul in a living host is resilient, and cannot be destroyed. Life and Death Once someone dies, their soul will typically exit the body and dissipate. It is possible that when someone dies under extreme distress, fragments of the soul may remain in the original host. Alternatively, those of strong will may retain much more of their soul upon death, or may instead manifest as incorporeal undead. When a soul is not tethered to a “suitable” host, it is incredibly rigid to change. It will retain its physical appearance, general level of maturity, and will not age in either regard. While a soul may be able to gain more knowledge and learn about topics, it will be very difficult for it to change opinions, morals, or values when reacting to or interpreting new information. When untethered, a soul is also incredibly fragile, and in many cases will degrade and eventually dissipate when confronted with considerable emotional or mental turmoil. This can range from the soul of a toddler struggling to learn how to do basic addition, or the soul of a mercenary struggling to come to terms with their own death. A person cannot function without their soul. Removal of the soul is equitable being reduced to a vegetable at best, with death being far more common. Incorporeal Necromancy Incorporeal necromancy is the subsidiary of regular necromancy that specializes in the handling of the soul, it’s manipulation inside an “unsuitable host” or when untethered, and the rebinding of incorporeal undead to phylacteries. An incorporeal necromancer is primarily important for the ritualistic creation of higher undead and living dead according to the tiers of the grave, but can also as the name implies, control incorporeal undead such as ghosts and poltergeists. Of particular interest, an incorporeal necromancer can forcibly change an untethered soul to reflect a different appearance, capacity to learn, or add or subtract specific values and ethics. Such endeavours are difficult however, and often result in the soul’s destruction when the necromancer is faced with resistance. Alternatively, an incorporeal necromancer can use their magic to hold together untethered souls, or destroy them. (OOC note: you cannot “steal” a living person’s soul, nor can you damage, change, or bend someone’s soul inside their body without their permission.) Creation of Higher Undead This is primarily accomplished by a regular necromancer and an incorporeal specialist working together. When trying to create a higher undead creature, a victim is ritualistically sacrificed. As the soul leaves the body, it is held by the incorporeal specialist while the first necromancer reanimates the host. The incorporeal specialist then reinserts what remains of the soul back into the host. Alternatively, an incorporeal specialist can simply sacrifice an individual, and then bind the soul that emerges. This process is more difficult as it flat-out defies the natural course of souls, and is draining for the necromancer. Such endeavors are usually attempted with other specialists, or several runes prepared and charged in advance. Once the soul is bound, it is then incredibly resilient against degradation, but is still very rigid against change. It is also incredibly easy for the binding necromancer(s) to command that specific undead, and harder for others to wrest control of it. Liches & Phylacteries Creation It is possible for very few incorporeal necromancers that are familiar with vessel creationism to create special “phylacteries” capable of holding a soul in a stable state and releasing the soul into a “suitable” host. A phylactery is typically constructed from the same materials as vessels; crystalline structures such as gemstones and geodes. A phylactery must be of a crystalline structure, and cannot be any ordinary inanimate object like a regular vessel. Additionally, a phylactery that is occupied will always glow. A “Lich” is created by tethering one’s soul to a phylactery. Typically accomplished by a living person first engraving a rune into their dedicated phylactery and powering it; and then carving, branding, or tattooing an identical rune into or on themselves. The phylactery rune must be recharged every so often but remains inactive, while the caster’s rune automatically draws from the host’s essence. Upon death, the “soul” will transfer to the phylactery if it is on their persons. Alternatively, an incorporeal specialist may sacrifice a person, and bind their soul to a phylactery. A soul may resist this process however, and result in the arcanist failing to transfer the soul. This process cannot be done safely. Traditionally bound souls cannot be transferred to a phylactery, being too stable in of itself to be shifted into the receptacle. From death forward, reanimation of the lich will require another necromancer placing the phylactery into a prepared corpse. Such corpses are usually skeletonized or embalmed to resist decomposure, and runed to provide the initial essence necessary to reanimate. In many cases, these hosts are laced with vessels in addition to the phylactery, and are powered by the various arcanists who support the lich. Upon the complete draining of the host’s essence, physical destruction, or at the soul’s will, the soul may be retracted back into the phylactery. Power A lich, while not particularly powerful in of itself, is best equated to a fully sentient undead that is not limited by disadvantages affecting the soul. Furthermore, due to its protection from death, the lich’s wealth of knowledge can possibly continue growing ad infinitum, provided the phylactery is not destroyed. Despite maintaining an intact soul, a lich cannot safely cast magic without the use of vessels. Given that essence is a measurement of well-being, and that natural bodies regenerate, there is no such measure for the reanimated. Undead that are cognitively capable of casting spells risk draining the amount of essence used to animate it. As a result, it is very common for liches to hoard vessels, often having them inlaid into their hosts, tools, and wherever else possible. Many liches also begin the process of learning vessel creationism for the purpose of sapping others when necessary. In this process, while liches may be initially limited in spellpower, they make up for it in a way to considerably surpass the essence limitations of any living creature. In addition, forever is quite a long time to study other crafts, provided the lich in question doesn’t develop any mental instability or illness from their inability to die. Destruction To a kill a lich, one must destroy the phylactery. While not impossible, it is most certainly difficult to do with an angry thousand year old mummy and its surrounding cult trying to kill you. That being said, should one manage to defeat a lich, and is not at risk of retaliation by other parties, then there are several methods to destroy the phylactery, expel the lich, and subsequently destroy it if possible. Firstly, one must destroy the phylactery. This is as simple as smashing the crystal. A vessel creationist may charge it up to explosion, a warrior may reduce it to dust with a hammer, it may even be dropped from the tallest tower one can find. So long as the phylactery is physically destroyed, the lich’s soul will be expelled. Alternatively, an incorporeal necromancer may forcibly extract a lich from their phylactery once disconnected from a host if they are experienced. Once a lich has been expelled from their phylactery, it is the same as any other ghost or poltergeist, and just as vulnerable to the shattering of its visage and the will of necromancers. Even should a lich be salvaged after the fact, its soul is usually too damaged to be a fearsome leader or cast complex spells.